The Space Surveillance Sigint Program came into emtence in the early 1960s when both the United States and the Soviet Union were racing to get satellites launched and were preparing for unmanned and manned exploration of outer apace.
As with many programs, technology advances at such a rapid rate that policy governing its use is often left far behind. So it was with the SSS program: the capability to exploit signals emanating from foreign apace vehicles existed, but a program for managing this collection activity was very much needed.
